A Little More Than a Crush
by tornac
Summary: Zuko's son talks with him about a few things. Partly... about a waterbender. Oneshot


**A/N: Just a random thing my classmate made me think about…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in A:TLA.**

I could feel the heat of her glare drilling into my back. Not that I wasn't used to it, though. Five years of receiving the same treatment every time we met wasn't helping our relationship. I sighed as Mai stormed out the door with an angry, suspicious look upon her face. Little footsteps directed my attention to my side, where my son held out his arms to me. I knelt down and embraced him comfortingly as he sniffled into my ear.

"Daddy, I think Mommy's angry again."

"Yeah, I know."

"Wh- Was it something I d- did?"

"No, no, of course not. You did nothing wrong."

"But she seemed really angry at me this time…"

"I'm sure it's nothing… She's just a little…"

"Mad?"

"Yeah."

He pouted and buried his face into my shoulder. I patted him reassuringly on the back as he hugged me tighter.

"I really miss Uncle Sokka. It's just so much fun with him around."

"Uncle Sokka?"

"Yeah. He showed me how to hunt mooselions once."

"…Did it… come out alright?"

"…Well… we sorta had a little help from Aunt Suki."

I chuckled deeply at the thought.

"I miss Aunt Toph too."

"No, really?"

"Yeah. It's fun to see her kick Uncle Sokka and Aang all around."

"Typical Toph."

"Yeah. I wish they'd come visit again, then I could go ride on Appa with Momo."

"Did Aang take you to ride with him?"

"Yeah, together with Aunt Katara."

It took me a moment to compose myself.

"Did you have fun?"

"Yeah, a lot. Uncle Aang wanted to go cloud diving."

"Tell me you did not-"

"No, I didn't. Auntie Katara made sure of that."

I nearly sighed out loud in relief. Agni knows what happens when Aang went on any adventure. I grinned down at him as I stood and went to sit by the bedside, where he followed quickly, jumping into my lap.

"Ugh, you're getting heavy, Lee."

He huffed indignantly.

"How come Auntie Katara never complains if I sit with her?"

"What? Have you been bugging Katara with babysitting you?"

"No. She wanted me to sit with her."

"Oh. That's real nice."

"Yeah. We usually talk, then she tells me stories about all your adventures."

"Did that happen to include-"

"Yeah. She said that you tied her to a tree and that you were a pigheaded jerk."

Lee laughed at my expression.

"Okay fine, maybe I was a jerk."

"Huh? You mean you _really_ tied her to a tree?!"

"Yeah."

"You're so mean!"

"What? I-"

"Why'd you do that?"

"Well I was going to bribe her with her necklace to get to Aang. When we were enemies, that is."

"But Aunt Katara said that her necklace was a beth-ro-tha-thingy. What does that mean? Does that help bribe people?"

"No… and betrothal means to propose or a symbol of it, or something."

"…"

"…"

"You _proposed_ to Auntie Katara!?!"

"What?! No-! I-"

"No? Aww man…"

I blushed at my son's reaction.

"What's this all about? You thought I proposed?"

Lee looked around to the door and held still for a few moments, then turned to me and dropped his voice.

"I… just feel like… I think of Auntie Katara like she's Mommy…"

I lost my voice. Lee continued,

"She's just so nice, cause she talks to me a lot, and Mommy barely talks to me at all… Also, she helps me around, plays with me, and makes me happy."

Lee smiled up at me. I cleared my throat.

"Oh. Yeah, Katara was also the mother figure of the gang during the war."

"Did she act like your mom too?"

"No. She spent five-sixths of the time hating me."

"What? That's not like Aunt Katara at all! What happened?"

"I… We… shared something about our pasts under Ba Sing Se, and I… betrayed her…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"What?"

"You really _are_ a pigheaded jerk."

"…"

"…"

"…I know."

Lee nodded and got off my lap, crawling to his pillow. I shifted and lay down beside him as he closed his eyes.

"So, what happened one-sixth of the time?"

"Well, I redeemed myself, and thankfully Katara was able to trust me again."

"How'd you do that?"

"Um, first… I helped her track her mother's killer, so she could get closure. We went to Whale Tail Island—"

"Daddy, stop. I don't wanna hear Auntie Katara's story again…"

I nodded.

"What's the second?"

I paused, and breathed deeply before answering.

"I took a bolt of lightning to save her."

Lee's eyes snapped open and he stared at me for a full minute, jaw hanging. His voice was barely a whisper when he spoke again.

"What…? You…?"

"Yeah. Katara saved me from dying, too."

At that, I grasped the bottom of my tunic and pulled up, revealing the star-shaped scar that nearly took my life. Lee gaped at it and covered his eyes, turning his head away. I hugged him tightly and he grasped my hand, shaking.

"Next time I see Aunt Katara, I'll tell her she's the greatest bender in the universe."

"She probably is."

"Not probably. She _is_."

I chuckled deeply, agreeing with my son. He relaxed bit by bit and stopped shaking. We lapsed into a comfortable silence. Then, he suddenly grinned at me after a few minutes.

"Aunt Toph told me about Ember Island and that lady called June. Was Auntie Katara really your girlfriend?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, how in the name of Agni did you suddenly think of that?! I thought we were discussing the final battle?"

"Well, I don't want to, cause it's really scary. Now come on tell me, was she really your girlfriend?"

I sat up a little too quickly.

"She _wasn't_ my girlfriend!"

"Aww, too bad…"

"Why is everybody assuming that we were both together?"

"Well, Auntie Toph said that the more you hate, the more you love. From what she told me, Auntie Katara kept teasing you."

"Well I-"

"And you _let_ her, too!"

"I was—"

"And, Auntie Toph said that your heart rates would spike when you teased each other!"

Now, he was grinning widely. I was speechless. He continued,

"She also said that you'd get jealous when Uncle Aang talked with her."

I growled.

"Why did Toph start telling you all of this?"

"Ha! So it's true!"

"What, no it's not--!"

"I can tell you're lying!"

I gritted my teeth and lay back down in defeat. Lee laughed triumphantly.

"Did you have a crush on Auntie Katara?"

"No."

"Tell the truth!"

"No."

"Come on Daddy, or Auntie Toph might tell me a few more things…"

I glared at him. How on earth did he manage to trap me like this? Curse Toph. I sighed.

"If I say yes, will you go to sleep?"

"Maybe."

"Give your word."

"Alright, I will."

Breath.

Expectant stare.

Breath.

Triumphant grin.

"Yes…"

"I _knew_ it!"

"Okay, now you know, now go to sleep."

"You're not going to tell me not to tell Aunt Katara?"

"No."

"Ooh, careful Daddy…"

I couldn't help but smile along with him. Lee lay back down onto his pillow. He fell silent for a moment. Then,

"You know Daddy… I wouldn't really mind if Auntie Katara really were my Mommy."

I looked at him tenderly.

"Neither would I."

"Really?"

"Yeah. After all… I _did_ have a crush on her."

Lee smiled contentedly as his eyes began to droop.

"Or maybe, just… a little more than a crush," I added, as I watched my son's eyelids close slowly over pure, navy blue orbs.

**A/N: Short, I know, but I kinda had fun writing this. ^^**


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